Improvement in water-wheels



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Y Letters Potent No. 96,7 7 5, dated November 16, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN WATER-WHEELS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, DENISON CHASE, of Orange, in the county of Franklin, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Water- Wheels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same,.reference beingrhad .to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification'.

This invention relates to improvements in waterwh'eels, of that class where the water strikes the upper part of' the buckets, to impart a direct impulsion thereto, and is then so changed in its action, by the form of, the buckets, as to have a. reacting eiect on being discharged.

The invention consists in an improved form of the buckets andof the bottom of the wheel, calculated .to facilitate the discharge of the water, and to ob- Vtain a greater percentage of power by the said discharge.

The invention also comprises an improved arrangement .of the gate, and the supports and adjustingdevices of the bridge-tree, which improvements are also applicable to other wheels.

Figure l represents al1-elevation of my Vimproved wheel, partly sectioned.

Figure 2 represents a section, taken on the line x of iig. l. Y

Figure 3 represents a view of one of the buckets, the outer lim being broken out.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A. represents the outer rim of thevwhcel; B, the inner one; and C represents the buckets. These buckets represent, at the top, nearly radial lines, and from the top they curve downward to the bottom, the saidcurves represent-ing nearly quarter circles.

Hitherto, wheels have been made in this way, withthe outer and inner rims on vertical lilies, or nearly so, and both extending downward the same distance.

My present invention consists-in inclining these rims toward each other, or the inner one toward the outer one, tomake the space considerably narrower at the bottom; also, in extending the inner wall B below the outer one, and curving the outer edge of the bucketsv upward, as shown in tig.'3, whereby a course is given to the water more in accordance with that to which it is inclined by-the action ot' the centrifugal force to which it is subject after first striking the wheel.

When the outer rim extends as low as the inner one, it obstructs thc discharge of the water` to a considerable extent, which my arrangement obviates.

The contraction of the space toward thc bottom,

facilitates the reactive force of the water, and thc curvature of the buckets, as shown at I), adapts them to be more powerfully acted upon-by the water when discharging more in the 4direction of the centrifugal i force, as above sta-ted.

My improvement in the 'arrangement of the gate consists inthe employment of two or more valves, E, oscillating on trunnions in the frame F, and arranged to swing the tops away from, and the bottoms toward the wheel, so that the passages between them, as also the passages between them and the walls ofthe chute will, whetherpartly or wholly opened, be more nearly in-the'line of the direction the water is required to take in moving along to the wheel. I

Thesevalves are provided with toothed segments F, and gear with worm-gears on a vertical shaft, G, for opening or closing them. y

Instead of the shaft G, a sliding toothed rack may be used. i

As very nearly or quite the same effect would be attained in directing the water toward the outside lof the scroll, which is drawn at H, these valves would answer a goed purpose if arranged vertically instead vof horizontally, and with their inner edges to swing away from A the said side of the scroll, and I contemplate, in some cases, making this arrangement.

rlhe improvement in the bridge-tree supporting and adjustingfapparatus consists in making the chairs I, wherein the ends of the bridge-tree rest, detachable from the 'base M, so that by removing them from under the ends of the said bridge-tree, the latter will fall down sufficiently to be disengaged from the spindle .in the end of the shaft, to permit of the renewal of the spindle, when required, or of the steps wherein it works.

- The vertical walls of the chairs and the ends of the bridge-tree are rounded, and the latter may thereby be adjusted either laterally or lengthwise by the employment` of only two set-screws, L, at .each end,

instead of three, as heretofore used.

Having thus described my invention,

XVhat I claim as new, and desire `to secure by Letters Patent, is-

- 1. In combination with the buckets C, arranged at their upper edges in a nearly radial line, and thence curving downward, the rims A andvB, of unequal length, set at an inclination to the shaft andalso to each other, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose specified.

2.' The valves E, arranged to be operated substantially as shown and described, for the purpose of regulat-ing the ow of water.

3. The chairs I, having circular cavities for the reception of the rounded ends of the bridge-tree K, whereby the latter may be adjusted both laterally and longitudinally, by means of but two set-screws L, and detachably connected to 'the base M, to permit the lowering of the bridge-tree, as described and shown.

The above specification of my invention signed by me this 11th day of May, 1869.

Witnesses:

FRANK BLOCKLEY, C. L. TOPLIFF.

DENISON CHASE. 

